Spirits are a little low after the intense traffic in Washington D.C.- not even caused by the holiday weekend or rush hour work, but a terrible accident with major carnage that blocked up the road for almost 2 hours. Made a 7 hour trip into a 9 hour trip, which makes a big difference when the sun sets and you are still an hour away from your campground. Miraculously we managed to find it, even though the AAA directions left us in the center of Wilson with no campground in sight. A gas station employee pointed us towards the route we were looking for, even though his English was barely better than Vincenzo's and he had never heard of an RV campground. Shortly after I left, a woman wearing a very very small yellow terrycloth towel, ... read more

So, if you think you know Italian and expect to be able to communicate or even understand the Brindisini (citizens of Brindisi), you might have a rude awakening. That's because most Brindisini speak Italian as a second language. The first language, what they speak at home, with their friends, and even at work in some cases, is the very local dialect, Brindisino. A dialect is not just an accent or a different pronunciation than Italian, it's a completely different language with different origins and a set of grammar rules unto itself. Heading to a neighboring city like Mesagne or Lecce will bring you to a completely different dialect. So learning Brindisino will really only help you understand the people of Brindisi. And so it goes for every single city in Italy. To straighten a few things ... read more